I own this knife for 10 years now, and lo and behold; high-quality slipjoints are back in style these days. Lionsteel is making them, Chris Reeve Knives is making one and according to my Instagram feed, the genre is also doing very well for custom makers. Especially for designs that echo the patterns of yesteryear when a lock on a folding knife didn’t even exist. Why has this design become cool again?

Spyderco developed the UK Penknife in 2004, simply to accommodate their UK customers who were facing new knifelaws limiting the carry of locking folding knives. What made this development process especially cool, was that UK forumites helped design this knife. In return, they were offered a special engraved UK Penknife that said ‘UK Penknife design team’.

In 2008, the design was slightly refined (opening/closing was smoother) and offered in two blade-types (droppoint and leaf shape), and multiple colors G10 (foliage green and orange). That is when I stepped onto the UKPK train, so to speak. I was pleasantly surprised that this slipit was just as useful as my locking knives. And ever since, I add a Spyderco Slipit to my pocket when I’m traveling to countries with stricter knifelaws, such as on this woodswalk in the forest near Bastogne, Belgium, during last year’s vacation trip.

Spyderco has been making slipits in some form since the introduction of the UK Penknife. This year, the slipit design has become en vogue with other brands. Why? Sure, knifelaws haven’t gotten much more relaxed in the world since 2004, but I think it’s something else. I think more and more knifeknuts are discovering that they rarely ‘need’ a lock. To me, it is a special (small) kind of joy to just open, cut and close your knife without having to unlock it. Try a slipit, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

I really like the Spyderco 40th anniversary Native 5, but I know I’ll never ‘hard use’ that knife (whatever that means these days). When this very same knife in a S90V blade was announced, I took notice. This new C41CFF5 could be a neat companion piece to my anniversary knife, one that I actually would use a lot easier. It turns out that I liked this ‘plain’ Native a lot more than just something to have on me to prevent scratching that beautiful Odin’s eye Damascus steel of the anniversary Native.

Fluted historyThis knife’s main draw, for me, is that gorgeous fluted handle. I really like its backstory, or what snippets I picked up from it. Spyderco has been working on fluted handles for years, way before the C41CFF5 was conceived. The fluted titanium Military was the first knife to come out in 2011 and the handle finish and lock were tweaked several times during production. The fluted titanium Native 5 won American Made Knife of the Year at the 2011 Blade Show, but didn’t become available until 2013. Both knives were dropped from production in 2017. Sure it’s a respectable run, but the fluted titanium knives was always only available in small quantities. Was that because of a lack of interest? Nope. Apparently, they were just extremely difficult to make, in a consistent quality and on a production scale.

Still, Spyderco wanted to pursue this fluted handle design. So they turned to carbon fiber, hoping that that would be a lot easier to work with for -again- consistent quality and on a production scale. Unfortunately, that too proved very challenging. So much so that this particular knife, was cancelled during production and the finished fluted handles were used for the limited anniversary run of 40th anniversary natives. Still, Spyderco hung on and in August 2017, the C41CFF5 fluted native was released for one production run.

To date, we haven’t seen any other new fluted handle designs. I just love Spyderco’s tenacity to keep finding a way to make the design work. I’m sure that a lots of other makers would just go with a shallow engraving of a wider stripe-pattern and call it a day. This fluting itself is plentiful, spaced very close together, deep and consistent throughout the 3D handle.

HandleThe Native’s fluted carbon fiber grip is a knifeknut’s dream; the look is unique and very aesthetically pleasing and it actually works. It offers a wonderful grip, not too smooth not too rough; just right for this office worker’s dainty hands. The 3D machining fits my hand really well and the fluting adds just the right amount of traction for suburban EDC work. It’s just a plain awesome handle, and I wish we will see more knives with this handle design. But not too much, as I appreciate the fact that this is a rare and exclusive handle design. I also really appreciated the 4-way clip option. I can set it up as my left-handed utility folder and really use it. A nice touch is that the clip-screw holes feature polished steel threads sitting just a hair below the surface of the carbon fiber handle. The unused clip screw holes tend to disappear from my notice, in the dark fluted carbon fiber.

BladeThe CPM S90V blade on a Native 5 is no stranger to me, since it was also featured on the excellent 2015 forum knife. S90V ticks off all my boxes for practical EDC: it’s flat ground, around 3 inch long, leaf shaped, thin and stainless. I realize it’s not stain-proof, just stainLESS. Yes, I like to play with the occasional carbon steel that Spyderco offers, but it will be cladded with a stainless steel. I just like my knives to clean up nicely after work. I know, I’m superficial, but I’m the SpyderCollector after all and collectors like to keep their precioussessss in good looking order. Edgeholding is just plain boring. Trimming some vines in the yard, opening mail, pitching in in the kitchen for food prep, cutting up apples for lunch – it all just makes that S90V yawn with boredom. All I can say is that with my mundane suburban uses, the edge holds extremely well and it doesn’t stain.

Fit and finishThe overall fit and finish is simply superb. I was actually a bit surprised about it. This C41CFF5’s fit and finish is just as nice as any old-school Moki made Spydie. The opening and closing action is just so smooth, and the lock-up tight as the proverbial bank vault. The fit and finish is on a new level for Spyderco in my book. I can feel the difference between this C41CFF5 Native and the much older G10 Native I own, which –rest assured- is just fine in the fit& finish department.

OverallI realize this isn’t a cheap folder and with this knife’s MSRP, you’re getting into Sebenza territory. I like and appreciate the Chris Reeve Sebenza a lot, and I know many purists will point out that the Sebbie has better fit and finish than any Spyderco knife. That’s probably true. But … can you get a Sebenza in S90V with a 4-way clip, and a 3D fluted carbon fiber handle that actually fits your hand comfortably in a variety of grips? … [mic drop] … 😉

Every knife collector has regrets, and mine was the Spyderco Lil’ Temperance 2. Luckily, I managed to correct my youthful mistake in letting it go back in the early 2000s. Spyderco co-founder Sal Glesser has said about his design: “A little Temperance is a good thing”. I think I’ve shown plenty of temperance when I waited 15 years before I got mine. Although ‘foolish’ would be a better description.

I’ve been a big fan of the original Lil’ Temperance folders, since they originally came out back in 2002. They were made in two blade shapes: the Lil’ Temperance 1, with the now familiar Spyderco leaf shape, and one in a more ‘wilder’ trailing point version – the Lil’ Temperance 2.

Back then, I thought the ‘rhino’ Lil’ Temp just seemed a bit too much. I went with the leaf blade and have been happy ever since. The Lil’ Temp is an awesome working knife, and its colored and 3D machined handle added some ‘panache’ to the design that satisfied my inner knife nerd. I went so far as to collect variations of the Lil Temp, and have been quite successful at it.

Over the years, I did start to appreciate that trailing blade shape and a little regret started to kick in. I wanted that rhino lil’ temp! One problem would be that I’m not a big buyer/seller on the secondary market. Let’s just say I don’t Ebay. Last year, one of my familiar forum friends announced a sale on his Instagram channel, and it featured a Lil’ Temp 2. Now here was a guy I knew and trusted. The sale was quickly settled.

When I received the knife, I was stoked to see the blade was marked 440V, these were made early on in production, as Spyderco switched to S30V in 2003. It was clear the knife had been carried. The blade was a little dulled, and I noticed some scuffing and bending on the clip and the G10 was worn in a few places. A quick disassembly, washing, oiling, reassemble and sharpening session brought it right back to where I liked it.

I haven’t cut much with it, just opening envelopes and breaking down cardboard for recycling. One kitchen cutting session did enlighten me about the possibilities of this blade shape for food prep. I might yet have to get that Hundred Pacer.

The knife is awesome. If there’s one advise I can give to a fellow collector; dare to go for the ‘quirky’ designs of your favorite maker, you’ll be glad you did later on.

If you want to learn more about the Spyderco Lil Temperance, then go to www.spydiewiki.com.

I have a fascination with the Spyderco Ladybug series, and Spyderco keeps bringing out new variations to add to my collection. This tan version in H1 was an exclusive for CountyComm that came out a few years ago. I finally found the right Victorinox Classic SD to mate it to. This combo rides in my watchpocket and fulfill all my ‘tool’ needs in everyday life. The Ladybug is both a back-up knife or when I want to demonstrate the value of a good knife to a nervous non-knife person.

Thank you all for checking out my Spyderco Amsterdam Meet 2018 report! For ease of browsing through all the various new knives, I’ve compiled this thumbnail overview that links to the various posts. I’ve also added this overview to the Prototypes page, where you can find my prototype photos from years past.

A little dessert from the Spyderco Amsterdam Meet 2018! Just before the meet started, I had the opportunity to take a few close-up videos of some of the knives I had photographed for my other posts. I figure these clips will offer a better impression of the knives’ sizes and how they fit the hand. The labels with numbers on the blades help attendees give feedback on these designs, on special cards that were collected at the end of the meet.

Please note, these are all production samples and I have no information on prices or availability.

Time for the last new knife post in my Spyderco Amsterdam Meet Report 2018! It’s always very cool to see the Spyderco Amsterdam Meets creating a little buzz for new Spyderco designs. But to have the meets help create a new Spyderco collaboration, now that’s a different type of cool. I’m proud to finally show these images of a fellow Dutchman and knife designer, the Zoomer!

I had to do a double take at the smooth handle, amazing how they can machine G-10 this smooth and this consistently. Equally impressive was the hamaguri grind with zero edge though. This knife will be shipped with an elaborate sheath with accessory pockets and a dangling loop for carry. It will be quite the package!